Louise Carroll: Thoughts for November

Louise Carroll

Thanksgiving is coming and I'm thankful for many things. I'm glad I have a place to put all the random thoughts that have piled up in my file since last month.

Here they are.

  • "The same people who can deny others everything are famous for refusing themselves nothing." - Leigh Hunt, poet and essayist

  • Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a playing card company. They made their first video game in 1977.

  • A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top. If you try this, let me know.

  • My friend Linda gave me a dollar bill with wheresgeorge.com stamped on it.These bills have been circulating for a long time and I think it’s fun. I'm always happy to get one. I looked it up by its serial number on the website and learned that bill traveled at least 243 days and some hours at .17 miles a day to get to Ellwood City, 42 miles from where it started in Deerfield, Ohio. Way to go, George!

  • "Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art." - Eleanor Roosevelt, diplomat and writer.

  • There is a point where four states touch -- Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Within minutes you’re in each one.

  • My column that included strange snacks got some comments including this one from Betsy Luther: "My Aunt Helen made a snack that I thought I wouldn't like but I did. She would take a banana, slice it lengthwise, put a small spread of mayonnaise on it and put peanuts on it. It was really good." If anyone tries this, I want to know.

  • "It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy." - George H. Lorimer, editor.

  • Pumpkins are technically a fruit. Why else would we put it in a pie?

  • "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus, writer and philosopher.

  • In 2006 Chris Putnam hacked into Facebook and made thousands of profiles look like MySpace profiles. Facebook hired him. Now, that's a resume.

  • "I will remember that what has brought us up from savagery is a loyalty to truth, and truth cannot emerge unless it is subjected to the utmost scrutiny -- will you not agree that a society which has lost sight of that, cannot survive?" - Learned Hand, jurist.

  • In the "Hottest Heads of State" by J.D. and Kate Dobson, it says that James Madison weighed about 100 pounds and always dressed all in black. I don’t know why these obscure and meaningless facts about long-dead presidents interest me, but they do.

  • A lightning bolt strikes so quickly it could circle the globe in just one second.

  • In Alaska, it’s illegal to whisper in someone's ear while they're moose hunting. Who enforces this law?

  • Philadelphia Cream Cheese was actually created in New York.

  • "I speak two languages, Body and English." - Mae West, actress, playwright, singer, screenwriter, and comedian.

  • Tweety Bird's birthday is November 21.

  • One pound of peanut butter can contain up to 150 bug fragments and five rodent hairs. Is that what makes it taste so good?

  • Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.” - James Randi

  • Illinois produces the most pumpkins.

  • "If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it." - Margaret Fuller, author.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Louise Carroll: Thoughts for November

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